Neighbor who took in Nikolas Cruz did 'everything' to warn police before Parkland school massacre

“I told him that I cannot have guns or violence in my house and he would need to find another place to stay,” Roxanne Deschamps said at a Manhattan press conference Tuesday. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

A next-door neighbor who took in suspected Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz for a month after his mother died last year said she gave him an ultimatum in the weeks before the massacre: It's either us or the gun.

He chose the gun.

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"I told him that I cannot have guns or violence in my house and he would need to find another place to stay," Roxanne Deschamps, who took in Cruz, his brother Zachary and their dogs, said at a Manhattan press conference Tuesday.

"I couldn't have him living in my house and putting my family in danger. I could not live in fear in my own home."

Nikolas Cruz is escorted into the courtroom for his arraignment on March 14, 2018. (Pool/Getty Images)

Deschamps said Cruz, 19, went to live with a friend after the confrontation, although they stayed in touch.

"The day before the shooting, Nikolas texted," Deschamps said. "He was worried about the dogs."

Deschamps said she did all she could to protect her children and anyone else Cruz's guns put in danger.

"I did everything I could to warn law enforcement about what could happen," Deschamps told reporters at a news conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred.

The Instagram account of suspected Florida high school gunman Nikolas Cruz

"I wanted to protect, not only my own children, but also anyone else who might be at risk of being harmed. I also wanted to protect Nikolas from himself. Unfortunately, although I did everything I could, I was not able to stop this tragedy from taking place."

Cops said Cruz shot and killed 14 students and three adults on Valentine's Day at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, in the largest school shooting in Florida history.

Deschamps, 42, said she became close friends with Nikolas' mother, Lynda Cruz, and promised to take her neighbor's sons in with her family if anything happened to her.

Cruz' mother died Nov. 1, and Deschamps opened her doors to Cruz and his brother — but she drew the line at his arsenal. She had seen Cruz's weapons at his house, and had learned, from Lynda Cruz, that he had held a gun to his own mother's head.

Roxanne Deschamps (l.) and her attorney, Gloria Allred (r.), at a press conference on March 20, 2018. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Cruz agreed to leave the guns behind, but Deschamps said she became alarmed when her mother, who lived with them, found a receipt for a gun and bullets Cruz had purchased.

"I was very concerned that the gun, which he had purchased, might be brought into my house or that he might get the gun and use it to harm himself or others," Deschamps said. "Law enforcement said that nothing could be done."

Authorities have since said the assault rifle Cruz used in the attack was legally purchased.